


Assisted Recovery

by TransformersG1fan271



Category: The Venture Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 01:43:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17356589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransformersG1fan271/pseuds/TransformersG1fan271
Summary: Orpheus gets to see some of the things that made Rusty the way he is today.





	Assisted Recovery

Entering a colleague's mind was something Dr. Orpheus had put on his to-do list this morning. He wasn't averse to such a thing, oh no, not at all. Dr. Venture was possessed! Only a mind such as his could bring the good doctor to safety from those who sought control from within!  
  
The mind he soon found himself deposited within was nothing short of hell.  
  
Countless twisted corpses of Hank and Dean wandered the cold and sterile hallways of Rusty's mind. They paused as the sorcerer would pass, letting out distressed moans before resuming their endless wandering. Finding himself somewhat shaken, Orpheus decided to try one of the blue and grey steel doors, hoping it would lead to where he needed to go.  
  
_  
“Watch out Rusty!”  
  
The cry of alarm was the first thing Orpheus experienced, a jungle in some far off land beginning to take shape around the doctor. He could see Rusty’s father perched on some sort of formation of stone and metal, lit cigar in his mouth as he looked behind the magician. Turning, Orpheus’s eyes went wide in horror. Young Rusty Venture, who looked hardly past the age of eight was grappling with some sort of native warrior. Rusty’s whimpers of terror and exhaustion were hard to miss, the boy squeezing his eyes shut as a knife tore through the clothes on his right arm. A cry of pain left him, desperation making Rusty grab the knife and stab the native on top of him in a movement that looked far too familiar.  
  
“Good job lad!” Venture Sr. laughed from above, waving as he turned to his teammates. “Take your time, I’ll meet you back at the ship.”  
  
“B-But I’m bleeding dad…” Rusty called weakly, but it was of no use. His father had gone, leaving the boy alone with the corpse beside him. “Oh gosh...I’m so sorry Mr. Native Guy, I d-didn’t want to hurt you.”_  
  
“You poor child…” _Orpheus was no fool. The Adventures of Rusty, Boy Adventurer had been a popular show back in its day. It depicted only the amazing highlights, leaving out much of the torture such outings would undoubtedly bring. Tearing his shirt to make a crude tourniquet, Rusty shakily got to his feet, making his way towards the edge of the memory that began to fade away._  
  
Opening his eyes, Orpheus found himself on what seemed to be a different level of Rusty’s mind. Each door was now a blood red and black, the hallway a flat grey as he began to look around. One door seemed to call to Orpheus, taking a pause when he felt a heavy feeling of fear hit him from seemingly nowhere. Undeterred, however, he opened the door.  
  
  
_It was quiet this time, Dr. Orpheus squinting as...the lab came into view? This confused the scientist, though that quickly faded when he glanced to his right. Rusty, a thirteen-year-old version of him was strapped down to a table. The boy seemed to be looking at the older man, yet there was no life in those vacant eyes._  
  
_“As you can see, he is merely a husk. Yet, with a mere suggestion, I can make young Rusty here do whatever I want.” Venture Sr’s voice rang out from the other side of the room. He was standing beside some sort of officer, who was looking very intrigued. Clapping, the clamps around Rusty released, his father motioning for the officer to speak._  
  
_“Er, Rusty, stab your leg with that scalpel beside you.” The man ordered, looking too eager for what he had commanded. Sitting up, Rusty’s gaze centered on the floor as he moved closer to the bedside. With robotic precision the young teen grabbed the medical device on a tray to his left, the blade glinting in the fluorescent lighting. The stab happened in the blink of an eye, blood beginning to stain and spread from the wound site. “Not even a scream?”_  
  
_“No, they will not do anything unless you tell them to.” Rusty’s father chuckled, Orpheus’s hands beginning to glow the more his anger rose. “Now, how about a nice round? Or would you like some more demonstrations?”_  
  
_“Perhaps later,_ a round _sounds great about now.” The soldier laughed, the predatory look unmissed as they went out the door. Rusty remained sitting motionless, vacant eyes awaiting for another command that wouldn’t come for some time._  
  
Orpheus felt his blood pressure rising as the memory ended, finding himself in a black hallway with only one door at the end of it. Sadly, before he had a chance to open it, there was a jolt and everything went dark. The doctor awoke in his own body, Rusty now unconscious as some madness occurred outside. The sorcerer found himself uninterested in whatever was happening outside, moving his cape so he could sit beside one of the only friends he had.  
  
“Ugh, what the hell?!” Rusty groaned when he finally came to. His head was killing him, a slightly shaky hand reaching out to feel his sheets below him. He certainly didn’t recall falling asleep, the last thing he remembered was some sort of bee stinging him? Sighing, he adjusted his glasses, rather surprised to see Orpheus of all people sitting on his bed. In his room. “What the hell are you doing in my bedroom Orpheus.”  
  
“Do you remember anything of the last dozen hours?” The magician questioned, summoning some water when Rusty was finally sitting upright.   
  
“No, I don’t. Why the hell am I hooked up to this piece of junk?” Rusty sighed in annoyance, pushing Hatred’s field monitor off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. The diodes came off with an easy tug, Venture popping some pills from his bedstand before drinking the cool liquid.   
  
“...when was your first kill?” The question was quiet, Rusty coughing slightly as he turned to look at his tenant.   
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“At what age did you first take a life?” Orpheus asked once again, gaze fixated on the younger man who frowned.  
  
“Six, why?” The man scowled, clearly annoyed at the question.  
  
“So the native was not the first I see.”   
  
“What did you just say?” Rusty felt his chest tighten, hands balling into fists as Orpheus raised his hands. “How the fuck do you know that.”  
  
“You were being possessed by a force of unknown origin. I went into your mind to see if I could rebuke the beast, but I never did quite finish that particular task. In my travels, I passed through some of your memories…” The silence hung heavy, Rusty looking as if he was going to attack his tenant, while Orpheus held a calm demeanor.   
  
“What...what did you see?” The younger hissed through his teeth, watching as Orpheus reached out and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He told him of the first memory he witnessed, having been around long enough to see the subtle guilt that crossed Rusty’s face. Describing the second one, however, the sorcerer was interrupted by a rushed hand put over his mouth. Orpheus raised an eyebrow, the faint tremor from Rusty’s hand giving away what had to be raw...terror?  
  
“Don’t...don’t talk about that one.” Rusty finally managed to find the words he needed, the pills doing nothing to keep the fear away. He didn’t want to be reminded of that week, of that general that had hurt him so much. Thoughts of that little lab still made him ill, Rusty screwing his eyes shut.  
  
“Breathe good doctor, the past has left you long ago.” When did Orpheus get so close? Were those his arms wrapping around his scrawny body, drawing him close? Was he touching his temple, chanting something that made his headache vanish? Letting out a heavy sigh, Rusty went slack against the other. It was...comforting to be held, something he had never really experienced.   
  
“I don’t deserve this.” He muttered, refusing to open his eyes. “I’m supposed to be the asshole around here.”  
  
“That you are, my good man.” Dr. Orpheus chuckled. “Yet everyone needs time to just...let go. A time to heal, even if it is but for a moment. A time to be held in comfort from one that hopes to be considered a friend.”   
  
“Sentimental old fool.” He scowled, yet his words held no bite. Usually, Venture hated being told wrong, but in his case, he could let it slide. Soon enough Rusty had fallen asleep, dreams free of the horrors he usually dredged up from the old days.


End file.
